


A Nanny for R

by AbschaumNo1



Series: Ravenclaw R [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-14
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-08 16:57:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire's childhood told from the point of view of his nanny</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Nanny for R

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You can't spell Ravenclaw without R](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036851) by [AbschaumNo1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1). 



> The wonderful Sylvie wrote this for me for Christmas and allowed me to post it for her.  
> So yeah this is not my writing (and not my interpretation of the characters).  
> Meanwhile I hope you can forgive me the lack of an update to the actual fic, I am stuck a little bit.

This is the story of how a child kept his smile and how it nearly lost it. It is my story and writing it down brings back all the memories concerning that child. I am old now and I was already old when I met that boy. However my age and experience allowed me to show him a new world.

I remember my introduction to him as if it had been yesterday. The master of the house did not bother with my lowly existence. The head servant gave me a letter containing the instructions on how to treat the young boy. It was quite an impressive set of rules so that I decided to ignore some of them if possible. On the next sheet there was the schedule of the young master and never had I seen such a severe one. His days were planned through. No time for games or even a break from all that learning. I was then brought to the room where I was supposed to stay. I was quite surprised that my room was next to the boy’s and after asking why I got the answer that it was practical. I put down my suitcase and asked to be shown my protégées room.

That room was not a child’s room. There were no toys, no pictures. It was full of books and sheets of paper, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if it had been children’s books and sheets to draw on. These books were boring, theoretical books like the history of magic and history books. On the sheets I could see writing and recognized that these sheets were his homework. The boy was sitting at his desk writing. A fair lady was standing beside him and upon me clearing my throat, she introduced herself as the lady of the house and left me alone with her boy.

The young boy introduced himself as Grantaire. He continued to tell me about the family history and that he was the heir and so on. This was not what I expected form a child. After he had finished his introduction, he continued with his writing. He had not mentioned his age and because of my curiosity I asked him. ‘I am eight, Mrs Nanny.’ For an eight-year-old he was quite mature, but he seemed soulless. With a smile I told him to call me Nana instead. His reaction shocked me. ‘My father told me to call you Mrs Nanny and if I don’t there will be consequences for me.’ As I was about to reply a servant came in and announced that dinner was to be served. I was told to go eat with the other servants.

With this my life started in that dull mansion. I managed to get Grantaire to open up to me and soon he called me Nana when we were alone. His father treated him no better than a servant and hit the poor boy often. When going out with Grantaire I often bought a toy or a book for him. These little secrets kept piling up and in half a year we had become friends. Until then everything had went smoothly.

The first problem arrived with a party. In summer the master of the house hosted a great ball and all the pureblood families were invited. He even allowed the servants to bring their children, but not because of his kind heart. No, the servants’ children should serve the children of the “nobles”. The ball was nearly at its peak when Grantaire asked me if he could play with some children. I supposed he was talking about the other pureblood children and gave my consent. Beside he was a child and children should play with one another. However my little boy played with the servants’ children. When his father saw that, the ball was over and Grantaire got the beating of his life. Words like dirty, muggleborn bastards and so on poured over the boy like a waterfall. After he had finished with the boy, it was my turn. Grantaire tried to protect me, but his mother –always the obedient wife- took him to his room. The master did not hit me for that would have been an outrage. He yelled and was about to send me home, when the head servant entered the room and announced that the parents of the children had been found. I was free to go and these poor servants were sent home, because of their children's improper behaviour.

I can see Grantaire’s face, swollen from all the beating. He cried and cried and no matter what I did I could not calm him. For the next two months, he was not allowed out of his room. His studies were increased and when he finally could leave his room, he had lost his smile. It broke my heart to see him like that, but time would heal him.

It took me a whole year to make him smile again. His father was now even more severe with him, because soon his son would turn 11 and then he would finally be out of his hair for a few months. I dreaded that moment, because I was afraid of losing my little boy forever.

The letter from Hogwarts arrived and Grantaire was allowed to get a bit of attention. He was still treated like a mere servant. I was informed neither the master nor the lady would be able to go with their son to Diagon Alley to buy his school materials. I knew that it would be the last time we could spend time together alone for a long time, so I quickly agreed. Grantaire was smiling and it seemed as if he had forgotten all about his family. Back at the mansion, however, his smile vanished. His father announced that he had better things to do than accompany his son to the King’s Cross station. As his nanny, it would be part of my job to make sure that his son got to the train to Hogwarts.

I did as I was told and reassured Grantaire that everything would be fine and that it did not matter into which of the four houses the Sorting Hat would sort him. The last I saw of him was a smile. Since then I haven’t seen him. After his letter that he got into Ravenclaw, his father threw me out, because obviously it was my fault that Grantaire brought shame on his family. That is now many years ago and my only wish is to see Grantaire’s smile again before I close my eyes forever.

**Author's Note:**

> You can come say 'hi' on [tumblr.](http://abschaumno1.tumblr.com)


End file.
